Kazimierz Bath House
Ritual Bath House in
Kazimierz was a cafe in 1998
The photo above shows the former Ritual
Bath House in Kazimierz, on the eastern side of ul. Szeroka at
the northern end of the street. When I visited Kazimierz in 1998,
there was a cafe in this building. The Hebrew name for a bath
house is Mikvah.
The former bath house was built in the
16th century, but it was remodeled in the 19th century. According
to my tour guide, it was the practice of the ritual bath which
prevented Jews from becoming victims of epidemics; this immunity
was the reason for the accusation that the Jews had caused the
epidemic of the Black Plague in Europe in the 14th century, according
to the guide. The Jews were expelled from the German states and
the Jewish quarters were burned. The Nazi excuse for forcing
the Jews to live in ghettos, after the Germans had conquered
Poland, was the accusation that the Jews had a long history of
spreading epidemics.
Ritual Bath House in
Kazimierz is now a hotel
The photo above, taken in October 2005,
shows the same former Ritual Bath House in Kazimierz, which is
now a hotel. Note that the color of the sign has changed from
green to red.
At the north end of ul. Szeroka is a
very small fenced-in park which my tour guide said was an ancient
cemetery; there are no stones there now, except for one memorial
stone which faces the south end of the street; it is shown in
the photo below. This tiny park is shown very briefly in the
movie Schindler's List during the scene when the ghetto is liquidated
and the Jews are evacuated to the Plaszow forced labor camp.
The ritual bath house, shown in the picture above, is to the
right of the miniature park.
Memorial stone on Szeroka
Street in Kazimierz
The photo below, taken in October 2005,
shows the memorial stone in the cemetery, which resembles a small
park. On the left you can see a souvenir stand which sells postcards
to visitors.
Postcard stand near
Memorial stone on Szeroka Street in Kazimierz
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